


Sunshine in a Dark Town

by Amrosia_Fics



Category: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Noir, Betrayal, Blood and Injury, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Fantasy, M/M, Mentioned Aerith Gainsborough, Mentioned Aqua (Kingdom Hearts), Mentioned Cloud Strife, Mentioned Terra (Kingdom Hearts), Mentioned Xehanort (Kingdom Hearts), Mentioned Yen Sid (Kingdom Hearts), Mentioned other Organization XIII members, Multi-perspective, Murder Mystery, Organization XIII (Kingdom Hearts), Plus Namine and Riku, Plus Vanitas, Sea Salt Family (Kingdom Hearts), Smoking, Someone has a slight panic attack, Twilight Gang (Kingdom Hearts), Twilight Town (Kingdom Hearts), Violence, Wayfinder Trio (Kingdom Hearts), but it all makes sense in the end, mentioned torture, sora and vanitas are twins
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-11
Updated: 2021-03-18
Packaged: 2021-03-18 08:40:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 18,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29980245
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amrosia_Fics/pseuds/Amrosia_Fics
Summary: With murder cases on the rise recently, Sora somehow gets mixed up in them and gets in trouble with the law. Will he be able to prove his innocence in time, or will Twilight Town be run by criminals?✧✦✧Thunder rumbled in the distance and the pitter-patter of rain began to hit the window pane. Riku nodded his understanding and leaned a bit closer, “So who are the suspects?”Xemnas opened a manila folder and grabbed a sheet of paper to hand to Riku. “The two suspects are twins: Vanitas and Sora. Now, Vanitas has a past dealing with crime, but we had him in for questioning just yesterday, and he seemed to have a clean alibi. His new… guardians all claimed to have been with him on the other side of town, and their stories all matched.Sora, on the other hand, seemed to have kept a low-profile as of late. When Vexen’s team searched his residency, it was completely empty, and his neighbors claimed they haven’t seen him as of late... It’s very… concerning. Xigbar found him following the duo off the train in Central Station. It’s safe to say that perhaps Sora lives in, or near, Sunset Terrace. Take him down, by whatever means necessary.”
Relationships: Axel/Saïx (Kingdom Hearts), Naminé/Riku Replica (Kingdom Hearts), Riku/Sora (Kingdom Hearts), Roxas/Xion (Kingdom Hearts)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 9





	1. Roxas

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first actual fic I've written in YEARS, so I hope you all enjoy it!
> 
> Huge thank you to KamikazeWorld for helping me resolve plot holes among some other things! They were loads of help <3
> 
> I'll be updating daily~
> 
> I may be editing the tags as I go since I'm not sure if I missed anything else that could be important

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The only thing to note is Organization XIII is called the Agency because I thought that sounded more Noir-themed

The savory smell of meatloaf and mashed potatoes cascaded across the cafeteria of the Detective Agency’s building, while various people had their share of the cafeteria’s dish. People chattering amongst themselves, silverware clinking against plates and bowls, and shuffling of cards were just a few of the many sounds one could hear upon entering the room. 

At one of these tables sat a young man named Roxas. He was playing a round of Poker with his two best friends, Axel and Xion. Roxas scanned his hand of cards: a 5, 7, and 8, all of Hearts, plus an Ace of Spades, and a Joker of Diamonds. He decided to discard the latter two and grab for another two from the stack. 

“We’re still up for sea salt sundaes later at the parlor, right?” Roxas asked before he glanced at his new cards: a 6 and 9 of Hearts. There was a slight curl to his lips before he rested his hand face-down on the table. He took a bite from his food -- relishing in the warm, thick gravy that topped it all off. 

“I promised we’d all go together again after you both got your promotion, didn’t I?” Axel confirmed as he discarded three cards. 

The two younger friends nodded enthusiastically. 

When Axel brought his new cards into view, his red brows furrowed before relaxing them and turning to the young woman, “It’s your turn to choose which place we go to.”

Xion let out a soft chuckle, “You say that as if we don’t go to the same place every time.” She chose to discard a single card.

“Hey,” Axel started, “We switch it up sometimes!” 

Xion rolled her eyes with a smile, “Sometimes!” When she drew her new card to her hand, her eyes widened slightly for only a split second. She looked up and made eye contact with her friends, all of them knowing it was time to show their hand. 

Each laid their set of cards face-up on the table. Roxas and Xion inspected each other’s hand: Roxas had a straight flush, but Xion won the round with a royal flush. 

The raven-haired woman let out a cheer while Roxas slunk back. Her baby-blue eyes crinkled from her grin, “I suppose you’re paying for my sea salt sundae tonight!”

Roxas crossed his arms as he looked away, “Yeah, okay!”

Axel’s laughter brought the two younger friends’ attention to him. He shook his head slowly, making his wild red hair fall in front of his shoulders, “Are you sure you two don’t have a secret night-life? I swear... you both dominate nearly every game!”

The two gave him cheeky grins and simultaneously chirped, “Nope!”

“Hey.” The trio looked in the direction of the new voice and saw Saïx approaching with his own ration of food. He was always known for his light feet -- but, yet again, the cafeteria wasn’t exactly quiet. “Not to cut your time short, but the boss wants to talk to Roxas and Xion.”

The two gasped and looked at each other with wide grins. They quickly gathered their cards together and tossed them into the discard pile. Roxas took a last bite of his food before discarding the dirty dishes and silverware. Before they left the room, they waved farewell to Axel and Saïx. 

At the end of the hall, they stopped at their boss’s door and knocked on it, awaiting a response. 

Almost immediately, a deep, slow voice responded, “Come in.”

Upon entering the room, a bit of smoke, smelling of tobacco, exited the room. Xemnas looked up, his golden eyes appearing above a manila folder. He folded it to hold with one hand while he discarded his cigar with his now free hand before he laid the folder open on his desk. “I got word there was a murder in the tunnels near Sunset Terrace.”

The two young detectives made their way towards the table to look at the evidence provided. Roxas picked up the picture and inspected it with Xion. There was a woman with long braided brown hair covered in blood that came from the gash in her throat. 

“It should go without saying I want you both to find the murderer and bring them to justice.”

Roxas and Xion nodded eagerly in understanding, then the two left with the case files. 

✧✦✧

Upon arriving at the scene just within the tunnels, there was yellow tape surrounding it, along with cops guarding the scene from public view. A few officers were directing citizens away from the area, to prevent them from seeing the murder. 

Roxas spotted officer Hayner amongst the group and nodded his head in greeting and got a brief mirrored reaction in return. The two detectives pulled the tape above them so they could walk under and begin their investigation. They both put on a pair of latex-free gloves as they made their way towards the body. Their first point of interest was the bloodied throat. It was messy as if it was either cut multiple times or with a jagged knife. Around the wound, there were blue and purple bruises. 

“She didn’t go down without a fight,” Xion spoke up. 

Roxas glanced over to see she was collecting evidence from the victim’s fingernails. He made a few notes of their findings in a small notebook he briefly pulled from his coat. He scanned the scene and found a jagged knife not too far from the victim's body -- confirming one of his suspicions. Roxas made another note in his notebook about the jagged knife needing to be analyzed for fingerprints at the Agency building. Afterward, he made his way back to where Officer Hayner was standing, near the outskirts of the scene. 

“Hey,” Roxas started, causing Hayner to turn around. “Have we already collected anything, like the identity of this woman?”

“We got information that her name is Aerith.”

“Did she have any friends?”

“A man and woman named Leon and Yuffie, respectively. They were the ones who found her body, and were just escorted away not that long ago.”

“Can you tell us where? I’d like to have a few questions with them.” 

Officer Hayner nodded as Xion joined the group not long later and led the two detectives to a man with shoulder-length brown hair and a long scar across his face, and a woman with short black hair. 

“Just to warn you,” Hayner spoke softly, “the man has a bit of a temper.”

Roxas nodded while keeping his eyes on the victim’s friends, then Hayner left back to his post. 

“Leon and Yuffie, is it?” Roxas began. “My name is Roxas, and this is Xion.” He briefly motioned to the other detective, “We’re sorry for your loss. Though we have a few questions if you don’t mind?”

Leon crossed his arms and refused to look at the detectives.

Yuffie was staring at the ground and softly spoke, “She was never meant to die.”

“What do you mean?”

“She said she was going to be meeting with an old friend.”

Roxas began to take more notes, “Do you know who this ‘old friend’ was?”

“Cloud.” Leon suddenly spoke up, “But he’d never do something like this!” He slammed his fist into the closest building. 

“You seem to know Cloud pretty well. Would there be any reason why he’d want to see Aerith alone?”

Leon and Yuffie shook their heads. Yuffie responded, “They didn’t say much on the matter. And we didn’t really question it.” She was silent for a moment, lightly kicking her foot against the ground, and then shrugged, “We didn’t think there’d be anything to question.”

“I think he was framed,” Leon suddenly spoke. 

“Do you know who could possibly be framing him?” Xion asked. 

Leon inhaled deeply before letting out a long-drawn-out sigh. He ran his hand through his hair, “Cloud wasn’t particularly everyone’s favorite. He mentioned the name Sephiroth a time or two. They seemed to have a rough past, but,” Leon shook his head, “I haven’t seen the man, so I don’t know what he looks like.” 

Roxas wrote down a few more notes about the investigation and what Leon said. 

Xion pulled out a company card from her waistcoat, “If you happen to think of anything else that may be important, be sure to let us know.” She gave a sympathetic smile as she handed the card to Yuffie. 

By the time the two detectives began to make their way back towards the train station, it was already past sunset. The sky was a hazy navy blue. It has almost always been hazy recently. Perfect weather to solve murder cases -- it would be funny if it weren’t so sad. 

Xion looked up and let out a loud sigh. 

“I suppose it’s too late to get those sea salt sundaes now,” She spoke then shivered slightly when a cool breeze ruffled her hair. 

Roxas offered a grin, “We still have tomorrow!”

Xion returned the smile, “You’re right!”

When they arrived at the steps toward Sunset Station, they were stopped by a young man around their age with spiky brown hair. 

He practically jumped to his feet at their arrival. 

“Hello! Are you two detectives?” The stranger asked excitedly.

Roxas furrowed his brows slightly, “That’s right.”

“My name is Sora!” The newcomer -- Sora -- grinned wide, “I have a few questions about your work.”

When Roxas didn’t respond, Xion did, “I’m Xion, and he’s Roxas,” She motioned with the tilt of her head. “What did you want to know?”

Roxas narrowed his eyes at her but didn’t say anything against it. 

“Well, I was curious if any of you saw or heard of anything weird lately?”

The two detectives were silent for a moment in thought. 

“I suppose,” Xion spoke up, “that things have gotten a bit more intense lately?” She glanced back at Roxas.

“The boss has been more strict,” Roxas added. “But I assumed it's because we have more on our plate now.”

Sora cocked his head slightly to the side, “Can you explain?”

“Well, he’s more resolute on catching criminals lately.” Roxas put a hand on his chin, “I figured it was because the crimes were going up recently though.” 

Xion nodded, “It seems like just these past few days, we’ve already had a few robberies and murders. But Twilight Town isn’t known for having a lot of crime.” 

Sora bobbed his head slowly with a firm line to his lips while he glanced at the ground. Suddenly the wide grin spread across his face again, “I hope you catch the criminals!”

An owl hooting reminded the trio of the time. 

“It’s getting late,” Roxas spoke, already taking a step towards the train station. “We should probably head back.”

“Yeah! I gotta get back home too!” Sora moved out of the way to let them pass and waved farewell. 

After the discussion with Sora, Roxas and Xion boarded the next train back to the Agency’s building. There wasn’t anyone else on board, and the only sound was the churning of the train wheels on the railing and the engine pumping. 

Xion leaned her head on Roxas’s shoulder. 

“Hey,” Roxas spoke softly, “Don’t go to sleep on me now. We still gotta report to Xemnas. Plus, we’re technically not allowed to be too close.” He rolled his eyes at the rules. Roxas knew the reasoning behind the rules: assuming their work wouldn’t be done as efficiently if they got too comfy with one another, but he could care less. The only thing that concerned him about this rule was being fired due to getting caught. 

Xion let out a soft sigh and sat up again to let out a yawn as she stretched her legs out in front of her, “I know… But we had such a busy day today.”

Roxas gave her a smile, “Yeah, but this is what we wanted, right? To be able to solve cases like this?”

Xion returned the look and nodded. 

The train ride was short, and the two got off at Central Station. The lights were dim and flickering. Perhaps it was time they needed to be replaced. The only sound was their footsteps clacking against the flooring and the inconsistent buzzing from the lightbulbs. 

Roxas was turning over the thoughts from earlier that day in his head. Cloud was suspected of the murder of his friend, Aerith. Their other friends knew of the two meeting and were eager to prove Cloud’s innocence. Leon mentioned a man named Sephiroth had a bad history with Cloud, but are their views biased? “Do you think Cloud was actually framed?” Roxas asked. 

There was no reply. 

“Xion?” Roxas turned around just as her body fell to the ground limply, “Xion!” 

Just as he was about to run to her side, there was a sound of light footsteps rushing behind him, and Roxas whipped out his pistol to shoot. There was nothing there.

“Where are you hiding!” Roxas shouted. He scanned the area, but he couldn’t see anything in the low lighting. 

He was responded with a bullet being shot into his leg. 

“Shit!” Roxas shouted as he fell to one knee. His wound was quickly starting to numb with pain. He shot in the direction the bullet came from, but again, it merely hit a wall. 

Another bullet was shot, hitting his arm and he fell forward. 

Just as Roxas turned around and recognized the attacker, a hard kick to his head turned everything to black.


	2. Riku

Riku was sitting at a table with Axel and Saïx in the Agency’s breakroom. It must’ve been a busy day, as there was only one other person there. In one corner of the room, he could spot a petite blond, Naminé, sipping on a glass of something while eagerly writing notes of whatever she was reading. 

He had just finished his roast beef and cheese sandwich when Axel let out a groan.

The redhead pushed his food dish forward and let out another loud sigh as he rested his chin into his crossed arms on the slightly rough table. “Are you sure they’re okay?” His green eyes shifted between the other two men. 

“It’s their first big case,” Riku started. “They’re probably working day and night to prove to the boss they’re capable.”

Axel opened his mouth to object but Saïx interjected. 

“I’m sure they’re fine. Come on, you need to eat.”

Axel lifted his head and pulled his food in front of him, but he merely picked up his fork to roll the meatloaf around. 

“Hey, albino!” A slightly gruff voice yelled out. 

Riku furrowed his silver brows before he turned to glare at the man who’d called to him. Xigbar.

“The boss wants to see you,” Xigbar finished with a smirk before disappearing down the hall. 

The silverette let out a sigh and closed his eyes. He scrunched them shut tight for only a moment before opening them again. “I guess I’ll be going.” 

Riku took a moment to throw away his trash. Then continued on his way to Xemnas’s office. It was oddly silent in the halls. The lack of papers shuffling or tappings on typewriters was… odd. 

He wrapped his knuckles on Xemnas’s office door, not realizing it wasn’t clicked shut, and in the process, the door swung open. Inside, Xemnas was speaking with Xigbar in hushed tones. 

Riku let out a soft gasp and took a step back, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to--”

“No need,” Xemnas interrupted. He took a long drag of his cigar and gradually exhaled the tobacco smoke as he took his time to turn his attention to Riku. “We were just finishing.”

Xigbar smiled disparagingly at Riku as he walked around the younger detective. 

Riku stared ahead, in an attempt to avoid eye contact. He knew that Xigbar liked to get under his skin, but he tried his best to not show how much it irked him. 

“Could you get the door?” Xemnas asked after Xigbar left the room. 

Riku turned to close the door, making sure it actually latched with a click, then turned back towards his boss. 

“Take a seat, Riku.” Xemnas motioned to the empty chair in front of his desk, “There’s been… quite the event recently.”

Riku hesitated for a second before sitting down. The boss didn’t usually ask for anyone to sit unless it was bad news. He hadn’t thought he’d done anything to displease the boss.

Xemnas took a moment, lacing his fingers together in front of him, “It seems we lost some members a few days ago.”

This was worse. “You couldn’t be talking about--?”

“Roxas and Xion. Yes,” Xemnas confirmed. 

Riku’s lips parted and his turquoise eyes widened.

Xemnas grabbed a stack of papers and straightened them. “Xigbar had informed me he saw they were murdered, and their murderer had run off before he could intervene. I had him relay the information to Vexen’s department and found two possible suspects. But Xigbar is busy with other cases, so I was hoping you could catch this dangerous murderer.”

Riku swallowed around his dry throat. He wasn’t nervous per se -- he’d dealt with dangerous criminals in the past -- but the subject of the matter was delicate. “Why me, and not Axel or Saïx? They were closer to Roxas and Xion.”

“That’s precisely the reason why I can’t have those two doing this particular job. I fear they would lack a clear mind if they came close to the murderer of their friends.” 

Thunder rumbled in the distance and the pitter-patter of rain began to hit the window pane. 

Riku nodded his understanding and leaned a bit closer, “So who are the suspects?” 

Xemnas opened a manila folder and grabbed a sheet of paper to hand to Riku. “The two suspects are twins: Vanitas and Sora. Now, Vanitas has a past dealing with crime, but we had him in for questioning just yesterday, and he seemed to have a clean alibi. His new… guardians all claimed to have been with him on the other side of town, and their stories all matched. 

Sora, on the other hand, seemed to have kept a low-profile as of late. When Vexen’s team searched his residency, it was completely empty, and his neighbors claimed they haven’t seen him as of late. It’s very… concerning. Xigbar found him following the duo off the train in Central Station. It’s safe to say that perhaps Sora lives in, or near, Sunset Terrace. Take him down, by whatever means necessary.”

Riku looked over the page, confirming the lack of information on who he was supposed to find. Attached were two black and white photos, with the names and descriptions of the suspects underneath. Both had wild, spiky hair, though Vanitas had black hair and red eyes, while Sora had brown hair and blue eyes. Then he looked up, “Have you told Axel or Saïx the news yet?”

Xemnas closed his eyes and shook his head slowly, allowing his silver hair to cascade over his shoulders back and forth. “I’d prefer to keep the news from them until after Sora has been dealt with.”

“Right.” 

“That is all I have for you,” Xemnas dismissed. 

Riku folded the paper and stuck it into his coat before standing up and taking his leave. As he left the boss’s office, Riku heard Axel’s laughter coming from the breakroom. It made him feel sick to the stomach knowing all that will change once Axel and Saïx hear the news about Roxas and Xion. Riku walked faster -- the faster he could take care of their friends' murderer, the better it would be. 

✧✦✧

Riku got off the train at Sunset Station. It wasn’t raining as hard now. There was a light drizzle, in a way that the sun could be seen behind the clouds. He cautiously made his way down the steps. 

“Suppose I could ask around to get some hints first,” Riku commented to himself before looking for people. 

The day was filled with mostly useless answers. Many people haven’t seen or even heard of a man named Sora. Just when Riku was about to give up, he figured he should check Sunset Hill. There were two police officers there: a girl with brown shoulder-length hair that stuck out at the sides at the top; and a man with spiked black hair, wearing a bandana that made his hair stick out even more. 

“Excuse me!” Riku called. 

The duo turned around and the woman officer responded cheerily, “Hello!”

“Do you know of a man named Sora?”

The woman put a hand to her chin, “The name sounds a little familiar.”

“What does he look like?” The other man chimed in. 

“He has spiky brown hair and blue eyes.”

“Hmm, I haven’t seen many that fit that description while patrolling.”

“Oh!” the girl suddenly raised a hand at the incoming thought. “It wasn’t recent, but I have seen a man who might fit the description by the houses near the tunnels.” 

Riku checked there earlier but hadn't found anything. Couldn't hurt to try again. “Thank you. I’ll check there next.”

“I hope you find him!” 

Riku gave a smile and nod of his head as he made his way back to the houses. It was nearing sunset now, casting large shadows in between the alleys. 

Suddenly, Riku saw some movement in the corner of his eye. He quickly turned his body towards it and heard the sound of scrambling feet. No one would run from Law enforcement unless they knew they did something bad. 

“Found you!” Riku whispered in excitement. 

He started in a sprint, following the other person. Water splashed upon his ankles as he landed in various puddles from the leftover rainwater. 

“Stop!” Riku shouted. 

The target pushed a dumpster behind them but Riku easily slid over it. Passing under the lamplight, Riku caught a glimpse of their spiked brown hair and pulled out his pistol. 

Riku fired a shot but the target turned around the corner. Riku let out a sneer and followed him. After turning into another alleyway, the gun was ripped from his grip and tossed aside. It took only a moment to get over the shock the second he saw the blue eyes to complete the suspect’s description. Riku punched the other man across the jaw, making them stumble. He then grabbed their lapels and harshly pushed the suspect against the wall of the building, hearing a rough mix between an exhale and a cough from the target.

“Why did you do it?” Riku questioned. He narrowed his eyes and bared his teeth, “Why did you kill them!”

Sora shook his head, “I didn’t! I swear!”

Riku pulled him back only to push Sora against the wall again, earning another cough in response. “Stop lying! When you saw me, you ran. No one would do that if they hadn’t done anything wrong, so I know you’re guilty!”

“I’m not! I promise!” Sora lightly wrapped his hands around Riku’s wrists and looked into Riku’s turquoise eyes. “Please, just hear me out.” His eyes were wide and pleading. It wasn’t a common sight in murderers -- but not unheard of. 

Riku took a moment before he loosened his hold. 

Sora kept his hands wrapped lightly around Riku’s wrists. “Lately, there’s been lots of framed murders. I was hoping if I spoke with the two detectives from the other night, they could help me uncover who’s behind it all. But when I heard of their murder happening not long after I met with them, I knew I’d be accused.” He looked down and noticed he was still holding onto Riku’s wrists and quickly let go, “-Oh! Sorry!” He swallowed visibly and averted his eyes as he kept his hands to his sides. 

Riku subconsciously rubbed one wrist, “Let’s assume you’re telling the truth. Why would you want to uncover the suspect behind the framed murders? You’re not a part of Law enforcement.”

Sora looked back up at the detective and inhaled deeply, “It’s a secret.”

Riku cocked a brow, “That doesn’t help your case.”

Sora shut his eyes tight, “I know.” Then looked around the alleyways to check if they were alone. They were. “If I tell you, you have to promise not to tell anyone else.” He held out a pinkie. 

Riku glanced at Sora’s pinkie. If this meant getting more answers about Roxas and Xion, then why shouldn’t he take this risk? He offered his own pinkie in return, holding them together. 

“Okay.” Sora motioned for Riku to get closer, then whispered, “I’m a secret reporter tasked with solving the framed murders. There’s already been a few framings already, but it wasn’t until recently one of my friends was accused. And now that I’m being framed, I fear whoever is behind all this will slowly be taking out all of us innocents until Twilight Town is run by criminals.”

Riku gave him a look, “How can you be sure you’re all innocent?”

“I trust my friends with all my heart,” Sora responded confidently, raising his hand to his chest. 

Under his coat, Riku could feel the cool metal of his necklace against his chest. There was a time he could say he trusted people with all his heart, but all that ended the day he walked in on his mother lying dead on the ground, and his father standing above her body with a bloodied knife -- but this wasn’t the time to be thinking about that. “And why do you think I should believe all this?” He crossed his arms.

Sora looked towards the ground and shook his head. “I know it’s a lot, and I don’t expect you to blindly trust me. I just want to catch those behind all this mess and make the world a better place.” Sora rested his back against the wall and closed his eyes, “But if you still want to go through with your mission, I won’t stop you.”

Suddenly, there was a weird knot in Riku’s stomach. What was this weird feeling he had? Did he feel sorrowful that this guy he barely knew would sacrifice himself so easily for his friends? Was he surprised that he’d been trusted so easily as if he were already a friend? Could they even be friends? Riku would definitely be killed if Xemnas found out he befriended the man he was tasked to stop. But if Sora was right, and innocent people are being framed, then wouldn’t Riku be doing the right thing in helping him uncover who the real suspects are? 

“Well, you seem to be in luck,” Riku spoke up.

“Huh?” Sora looked up at Riku.

“I decided I’m not going to kill you. But the second I find that you’ve been lying to me, I won’t hesitate.” 

“Perfect!” Sora perked up instantly. 

It was then Riku realized the drizzle of rain had stopped, leaving various wet puddles, damp hair and clothing, and the smell of cement. 

Riku walked a few steps away to recollect his gun from a small puddle it had landed in earlier. He lightly dried it with his sleeve before tucking it into his coat again. “And to avoid another instance like this, I’ll be sticking around. It’ll allow me to keep an eye on you to make sure you’re telling the truth.”

“Okay!” Sora nodded enthusiastically and formed his hand into a fist near his chest. “I’ll introduce you to the others tomorrow so we don’t have any misunderstandings later.”

“Actually, first, I need to inform two of my other friends that you’re not the one who killed Roxas and Xion. If I don’t tell them, Xemnas will definitely send them out once he realizes I’m not going back. I hope... that's not breaking the promise I just made?” Riku asked sheepishly.

Sora’s face seemed to brighten up even more despite still being a target. “If you think they'll lend their help, then they’re welcomed too! I’ll wait by the waterfall by Sunset Hill” Just as he was about to leave, Riku grabbed Sora’s wrist to stop him, then let go. 

“Hey, I’m sorry about your jaw.” He motioned towards the bruise that was beginning to purple. 

Sora brought up a hand to lightly touch where Riku had punched him earlier and winced at the pain. “It’s okay!--”

“It obviously isn’t,” Riku lowered his eyes towards the ground, “I may have been a little rash at first.”

Sora just smiled, “I don’t blame you for your loyalty…” He tilted his head a little to the side, “What’s your name?”

How could Sora just brush aside Riku’s actions that caused him pain? How could Sora be complimenting him? Riku briefly shook his head of his thoughts, “Riku.”

“Riku,” Sora repeated fondly. “I’m Sora! I’ll be okay!” He flashed a grin. 

Riku returned a smile, “Okay.”

Then the two made their leave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, in this fic, I made Vexen's team (Vexen, Zexion, and Naminé) forensic scientists! :D Vexen and Zexion work on the more science side while Naminé has a slightly different role, but you'll see when we get there~ 
> 
> Fun little side note, the two officers Riku meets with are Olette and Pence! They weren't named since they're not familiar with each other


	3. Axel

Axel awoke to his home phone ringing. When he opened his eyes, he realized he had a face-full of long blue hair. That’s right, last night, Saïx walked Axel home and suggested he stay the night to help with Axel’s worries over Roxas and Xion. They figured since they didn’t work today, they wouldn’t be caught breaking the fraternalizing rule. Sometimes it sucked having to hide their love. 

“Are you going to answer that?” Saïx suddenly asked, breaking Axel from his thoughts. 

Axel groaned, “I suppose.” He untangled his arms from around Saïx and slowly got up. 

Outside the window, the sky was still a deep indigo color. Axel furrowed his red brows. It was too early for someone to be calling.

Saïx turned around in the bed to cock a brow at Axel, but Axel waved him off, “I’m getting it!” He stretched his arms above his head then straightened his sweatpants before making his way into the hallway where the phone hung. He picked it up and yawned, “Hello?”

“Axel! This is Riku. I’m sorry to call you so early--”

“Damn right!” Axel interrupted, “The sun’s just barely risen.”

Getting back on track, Riku continued, “But there’s something very important I need to tell you.” 

“Well, go on with it,” Axel motioned his hand as if Riku was there to see it. 

The voice on the other line hesitated, “I’d prefer we speak in person.”

Axel was a little taken aback, “What time and place?”

“As soon as possible. We can meet at the Tram Common, in the back area. Also, bring Saïx with you. I think it’s best he’s there too.”

Axel glanced at the door to his room and saw Saïx just now emerging from it. “Right. I’ll make sure we’re on our way soon.” With that, he hung up. 

“What was that about?” Saïx asked while reaching his arms above his head in a stretch. 

Axel caught sight of Saïx’s toned abdomen flexing and smirked but looked away before he could be scolded for getting distracted. He shrugged, “Riku said he has something important he needs to tell us.”

Saïx stopped and lowered his arms, creasing his brows. “No one followed us last night, right?”

Axel shook his head and laid one hand on his hip and the other to run through his wild red hair. “I didn’t think so.” Then he smiled, “So what if we get caught? Nothing can stop our love for each other.”

Saïx huffed a sigh with a curl to his lips, lightly pushing Axel. “You’re such a sap.”

Axel let out a soft chuckle. “Come on, Riku’s waiting for us in the back area of the Tram Common. I still have some of your clothes in the back of my closet.” Then the two began to get ready for the day. 

✧✦✧

It was a slow morning. The potted plants and nearby forest made the area smell like dew from last night’s rain. Not too far in the distance, the tram could be heard moving at its usual pace, and people were starting to set up in their shops. 

When Axel and Saïx arrived at the Tram Common’s back area, they spotted Riku leaning against the far wall, staring at the ground.

“Hey! Riku!” Axel called out and waved an arm. 

Riku immediately looked up and pushed himself from the wall. “Great! You both are here!”

Axel and Saïx both nodded, then Axel asked, “What did you have to tell us?”

Riku took a deep breath and closed his eyes. “It’s about Roxas and Xion.”

Axel’s green eyes widened slightly. They were gone for a few days, and now Riku has the answers? “What about them?”

Riku was hesitant for a moment before taking another deep breath, “I don’t know all the details, but,” He paused for a moment, “Lately there’s been someone -- or maybe some people -- framing others for murder. When I was sent out on my mission yesterday, I was tasked to look for the person who murdered Roxas and Xion before they returned from their investigation. It was the supposed suspect who informed me of the framed murders--” 

Axel threw a punch at Riku’s nose unexpectedly, knocking the other to the ground. “And you believed them!?”

Riku looked up, holding an arm up to guard himself, “Just hear me out!”

Axel restrained himself, and Saïx didn’t look too pleased with the information either, but he seemed more composed. He knew Saïx was anywhere near being calm about this though. “You better have a good reason.”

Riku’s nose started bleeding from the impact and he held a hand to it. “When I found the supposed suspect, he barely put up a fight. I don’t think he’s capable of killing.” He turned his head to spit some blood on the ground. “He mentioned he was trying to uncover the framed murders. I figured he could help us figure out who the real murderer was, and we’d take them down. And if he was telling a lie the whole time, I promised I’ll kill him.” 

Saïx let out a sigh and folded his arms across his chest, “So you went in to kill, and came out believing him. What made him gain your trust so fast? You’re not usually easy to give in.”

Riku shook his head slightly and slowly began to get up, “I don't know. It’s just…” He looked up, watching a flock of birds fly above them, “the way he spoke, he seemed so sure of himself. I felt compelled to help him.”

“If the boss finds out you’ve been befriending suspects, he’s going to kill you,” Axel concluded. 

Riku looked back at the duo, “I know. I decided that in order to help uncover the framings, I’d have to leave the Agency.”

“It’s a death wish,” Saïx spoke.

Riku sighed. “Yeah, well, I figured if we’re not finding the right suspects, I might as well work alongside one to figure out who’s really killing our friends.”

“So that’s it?” Axel put his hands on his hips, “You’re telling us goodbye?” 

Riku shook his head, “They asked to meet with me again. I mentioned that I might bring a few friends to help.”

“You’re asking us to get killed with you?” Axel held an incredulous tone. 

“Maybe his charisma will work on you too,” Riku offered a smirk when he shrugged. 

“Fine,” Axel stated, tossing his hands up. “I’ll see who it is and determine if he’s truly trustworthy or not, but I’m not quite leaving the Agency completely.” Then he turned to Saïx. 

Saïx shook his head. “Axel’s cutting it close, but I’m staying with the Agency. I get you both to want to avenge our friends, but I’m not going to blindly trust someone.”

Riku nodded, “Then I suppose Axel and I will meet with him now. The offer still stands if you decide to join us -- we’re meeting at the waterfall near Sunset Hill.”

“Just make sure you both don’t get yourselves killed,” Saïx concluded their conversation before they parted. 

✧✦✧

As Riku and Axel entered the small area by the waterfall, Axel noticed a short man with spiky brown hair sitting on the bench, surrounded by another man with shoulder-length brown hair, and a girl with black hair that was just a few inches shorter. They were speaking amongst each other, but their conversation was overshadowed by the sound of water crashing into itself. As they got closer, the unknown man in the middle stood up and smiled. There was a large dark bruise on his jaw that Axel took note of. It seems Riku might have put up a fight at first. 

“Riku! You really came!” He spoke joyfully as he made his way towards them. Immediately after, he gasped at noticing the ice pack Riku was holding to his red-stained nose. “What happened?”

Riku chuckled, “I guess I got what I deserved for being rash.” Sora opened his mouth, but Riku continued, “Sora, this is my friend, Axel. Axel, this is Sora.” He motioned to each of them as he introduced the two. “Axel was really good friends with Roxas and Xion as well -- even better than I was.” 

Sora turned and motioned for the other two people to come forward, “This is Leon and Yuffie!” The two nodded when they were presented, “They’re sort of in a similar position when Aerith… was killed, and Cloud was framed.” Sora took a moment, still staring at them, then turned around to face Axel and Riku again. “Anyway, that’s part of the reason why I’m doing this.”

Sora turned his gaze up towards Axel, and Axel stopped breathing for a few seconds in the realization that Sora looked a lot like his best friend, Roxas -- and even Xion. The only difference would be their hair. 

“Axel?” Riku asked. 

Axel looked at Riku, then back at Sora. “Sorry, but-” He cleared his throat, “You look a lot like my best friends.” 

Sora nodded, “I thought the same thing while we spoke.”

Leon and Yuffie hummed in agreement. 

“So you met him.” Axel shot Riku a glare at that lack of information. 

Riku motioned back towards Sora to get Axel’s attention back on the other man. 

“I was hoping by speaking with them, they would help me uncover another framing. Soon after our meeting though, someone had framed me for…” Sora shook his head, “I’m sorry.”

Axel was silent. What could he say? That it wasn’t Sora’s fault? Even if he wasn’t the one that specifically killed his best friends, would Axel consider Sora still a part of the reason why they died? Maybe if they hadn’t spoken, his best friends would still be alive, and they could be having sea salt sundaes right now, along with Saïx. 

“You two met them as well?” Riku asked, bringing Axel back to the conversation once more. 

Leon nodded, “It was only briefly.” He gazed towards the waterfall and spoke softer, “We saw them at the scene, but Yuffie and I were so distraught, that our work was forgotten.”

“Plus,” Yuffie added as she rolled on the balls of her feet, “Sora’s the one that finds out the information about the suspects. Leon and I are more focused on helping people get back on their feet after they’ve been affected by these sorts of things.” 

Riku bobbed his head, “What do we need to do to help you uncover these framings?” 

“I actually need someone still a part of the Agency,” Sora spoke up, “so that we could get some inside information behind the possible suspects.”

Riku smirked and looked away realizing his mistake for already deciding to completely ditch the Agency. He lightly kicked a pebble to the side so that it made a plop noise in the water.

“Then you got one,” Axel affirmed. “I’ll be staying with the Agency, but if I can help uncover the real murderer of my best friends, then I will.” He didn’t feel too great about this. Axel still wasn’t sure how much he could trust the suspect, but he’d be damned if he didn’t catch his best friends' murderer. 

Sora grinned, “That’s perfect!”

“Now the real question is, what am I supposed to do with you?” Axel laid his hands on his hips and turned to Riku. “Xemnas knows of our friendship, and we’ve already discussed how he’s not going to be thrilled with you ditching the Agency.”

Riku nodded, “I understand the spot I’ve put myself in, but I can defend myself. You could tell Xemnas we got into a fight over my decision, cutting our ties.”

“Well, that’s half the truth,” Axel glanced at the bloody nose he gave Riku earlier. It only recently stopped bleeding. 

Leon crossed his arms, “As long as you don’t draw attention to us, you’re fine to stick around.”

“I was one of Xemnas’s best,” Riku said, “He may be looking for me, but that’s the reason why I’ll be around Sora -- so I can protect him from the Agency.”

There was a curl to Leon’s lips, “Sora… has a tendency to nearly get himself in trouble.”

“Hey!” Sora put his hands on his hips, “I’ve only been caught twice now! And let me remind you, that my life wasn’t at risk!”

“I don’t know,” Axel drew out, “that big bruise on your jaw tells me Riku, here, wasn’t about to go lightly.”

Sora folded his arms over his chest and stuck out his lower lip while the rest of the group chuckled.

Once the laughter died down, Leon set a hand on Sora’s shoulder, “Sora’s the best for this job. As long as you keep him safe, he can uncover just about anything.” 

At that, Sora perked up again, “Hey, Axel! Could you try to find information on Sephiroth? See if there are any ties he has with anyone or any place?”

“Sephiroth?” Axel repeated. He’s only vaguely heard of the name. Supposedly, he was a war hero in another city, but he’s never heard the details. 

Sora nodded, “He’s the main suspect I have right now. I know he and Cloud didn’t get along very well, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he framed Cloud.”

“You sure a war hero would frame someone for murder?” Axel cocked a brow at Riku, almost as if indirectly asking if he’d just sided with some insane person. 

There was no response. This could be a bad idea. Despite them getting along so far, who knew if this trio would suddenly turn their backs on Riku and him?

Sora responded, “If I can find him, I’d be able to coax the truth out of him.”

“And if it’s not him?”

“Then I’ll try to look for more information that could lead me to another possible suspect!” 

The grin Sora beheld didn’t look malicious. Axel ran a hand through his red hair, “Alright.” If it turns out this was a bad idea, he was going to kill Sora, and the rest of his group, and then beat some sense into Riku.


	4. Sora

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: the slight panic attack happens in this chapter. If you're not about that, skip the part Ven appears, and continue at: "Okay. I’ll be in the other room."

Sora and Riku had met with Axel again a few weeks later and were given info about Sephiroth’s frequent appearance at the Sandlot. And so, that’s where they were headed. 

“Are you sure this is a good plan?” Riku asked softly.

Sora looked up into the hazy orange sky, as if in thought. “Well,” he drew out, “It’s not like we have much choice. You spoke with the police to surround the area around nightfall, right?”

Riku nodded, “Yeah. They still think I’m working with Xemnas, but I don’t know how long we’ll have luck on our side.”

Sora shot him a grin with a little hop in his step, “Let’s just take it one suspect at a time!” 

“How do you know it might be Sephiroth, again?” 

Sora took out a notebook from his pocket, “On the night Roxas and Xion were… murdered. I saw Roxas drop this,” Sora handed the notebook to Riku for him to inspect. “I meant to give it back to him, but… I never really had the opportunity.”

Riku flipped through the notebook, recognizing Roxas’s handwriting. Then he got to the most recent pages, talking about Aerith’s murder case. “You know having information like this only makes you look more guilty, right?”

Sora’s shoulders tensed up to his ears and his face heated up. He stammered for an excuse but Riku just shook his head. 

“You’re lucky I’m allowing you to do this.” He read over Roxas’s notes, “It seems Roxas came to the same conclusion. Sephiroth may have had something to do with Aerith’s murder.”

At that, Sora let out a sigh of relief, releasing the tension in his body, and then nodded. 

“Is there anything else I should know about Sephiroth? Anything I should suspect?”

“I’ve only seen him a time or two, but Sephiroth is described as the type of person who will reduce you to nothing just by looking at you.” 

Riku hummed in acknowledgment as he pocketed the notebook, “Let’s just hope he’s not the modern Medusa.”

They stopped at the edge of the Sandlot. The sun was going below the horizon, casting long shadows across the Sandlot, giving it an eerie feeling. 

Sora swallowed hard, “I guess it’s time we get into our places.”

Riku nodded and only took a step away before he stopped. “Hey.”

“Hm?” Sora turned around, and just in time to see the remaining sunlight cast upon Riku, making his hair look as if it were glowing a pastel gold. 

Riku was silent for a moment, his mouth gaped open just a bit, and averted his eyes as if debating if he was really going to speak. Then finally, he did, “I won’t let you have the same fate as our friends.” 

There was a soft fluttering in Sora’s chest and he put his hand up to touch it, in an attempt to calm himself. Was he nervous? This wouldn’t be the first time Sora got in contact with a dangerous person. If anything, he should be relieved he actually has the help this time in case anything goes south. He smiled, “I have no doubt you will.”

Afterward, Sora made his way across the Sandlot to sit on a bench, in wait. Alone. But not really -- Sora knew the Sandlot was surrounded by police officers and Riku. 

The minutes ticked by, engulfing the area in deep shadows touching nearly every inch. There were only a few streetlights in the area, but they were dim. Sora couldn’t remember if they’d always been this faint. Suddenly, he heard footsteps nearby and when his head immediately turned towards the direction they were coming from, Sephiroth was entering the Sandlot. 

Sora took a deep breath before standing up and walking towards his suspect, “Good evening, Sephiroth!”

Sephiroth paused and glanced down at him. His icy-blue eyes narrowed for a moment before they relaxed, “Evening.”

“How’s your night?”

“Quite fine.” Sephiroth looked forward and began to walk again. 

Sora followed soon after, “Do you know where Cloud’s been? It’s been a while since I’ve seen him around.” 

“How should I know?” Sephiroth was short and quick to the point.

This was expected. Sephiroth wouldn’t just outright say it. Sora knew this, and so he continued to play the act. He tilted his head to the side, “Well, you two seemed close. He’s always talking about you.”

Sephiroth cocked a silver eyebrow before smirking, “Does he now?”

Sora nodded, “Yup!” When he was met with silence, Sora continued, “Anway, I’ve been a little concerned, since he’s been gone for a while.” 

“Isn’t it like him to be reclusive?” Sephiroth gestured in front of them as if the message was right in front of them. 

“Sometimes. But he never leaves his friends in the dust.” Sora gazed down at the ground, watching where he placed his feet. There was a decent-sized rock that he kicked off to the side. 

“Last I heard, that’s nearly exactly what he did.”

Sora tilted his head as he looked back up at the tall man, “Huh? What happened?”

“Rumors say he killed Aerith.”

Sora stopped in his tracks for a second, “What?!” Then he took a few long strides forward to catch up to Sephiroth again. “Why would he do that?”

Sephiroth shrugged, “Perhaps he got tired of her being around and ran a knife through her throat.”

“I…” Sora slowed and let his gaze fall towards the ground. He lowered his voice, just enough so that Sepiroth could still hear him, “When did this happen?” 

“I believe it’s been a few weeks by now,” Sephiroth responded nonchalantly. 

“Thank you for telling me,” Sora started out somberly, but when he looked up again, his voice picked up with pride, “Cause the case information never went public, so now I _know_ you were there!”

Sephiroth’s icy-blue eyes widened as he suddenly stopped, then he swooped his hands around Sora’s neck, “You little--!”

Sora’s hands immediately went around Sephiroth’s wrists, trying to alleviate the crushing pressure around his throat as his feet left the ground. 

Not a second later, several shots were fired one after the other in quick succession, and Sora was dropped. He coughed to regain his breath. The Sandlot was being swarmed with officers coming for Sephiroth’s arrest, and Riku running to Sora’s side. 

“Are you okay?” Riku knelt beside him.

Sora nodded, “I--” he grimaced from the pain of his now sore throat. His hand immediately went to it, though he knew it wouldn’t actually help relieve the pain. 

The silver strands of Riku’s hair swished side to side as Riku shook his head, “That was a stupid plan.”

“But it worked. We captured a suspect,” Sora managed a smile despite the pain.

There was a sigh, “Yeah.” Riku got up and offered a hand to pull Sora to his feet. 

Sora accepted, “Is there anything else we need to do?”

Riku shook his head, “The police have it from here on. I already gave them the notebook, so they can proceed with further questioning of their own.” 

“Then let’s go home and celebrate a job well done.”

✧✦✧

Sora and Riku just finished putting the seasoned duck in the oven. Or, more like, Sora had done most of the work but directed Riku where he could help out with the easier tasks. 

“That’s probably the last time we’ll have the police on our side,” Riku commented as he washed his hands from the raw meat. “The fact we haven’t heard anything from Xemnas yet is… strange.”

Sora finished up drying his cleaned hands then went to the fridge to refill his glass of water that he’s been drinking since they got back. “As long as it’s not public, no one should question it, right?” Sora tossed the drying rag to Riku as he turned off the faucet. 

There was a smirk as Riku caught it with one hand. After drying his hands, Riku put a hand to his chin, “I’m not sure. Xemnas has a way of getting the word around without it being publicly known. We should at least be cautious.”

Sora began to drink his water to soothe the soreness.

“How is it?” Riku asked as he hung the drying rag on the oven handle. 

“I--” Sora cleared his throat, “It still hurts a bit, but it’ll be fine.”

There was a displeased look in Riku’s turquoise eyes as he shook his head, “Are you always this reckless?”

Sora grinned, “Well now I have you to protect me!” 

Riku’s face turned pink and he looked away, though Sora caught sight of the curl on his lips. 

Meanwhile, Sora was getting that soft fluttering in his chest again. What was it now? They caught the suspect, so there’s no need to be nervous. They won! 

Suddenly, someone crashed through the door. Riku instantly put himself in front of Sora. 

“Sora!” The intruder sounded panicky and familiar. 

Immediately, Sora laid a hand on Riku’s arm to let him know this intruder wasn’t a threat, and Sora stepped around him, “Vani?”

Vanitas appeared around the corner, holding someone slightly smaller than him. They were both covered in blood and bruises. Vani was wobbling, Sora could tell he was weak.

“Please help him,” Vanitas pleaded with wide red eyes. 

Sora instantly ushered Vanitas to another room that contained a few beds, and helped him lay down the limp person, and got a better look at them. Now that he was taking in the appearance of the unconscious man in front of him, he felt sick to his stomach, being reminded of Roxas. Thinking back on it, Sora may have felt comfortable speaking with Roxas because he looked so similar to Ven. He gasped then ran to the closet, pulling out a medium-sized first-aid box. Sora set the box on a side table before opening it and began to clean the wounds. 

“What happened?” Sora spoke softly, but urgently. 

Vanitas shook his head and wrapped his arms around himself. “Aqua, Terra, Ven, and I were just… going out for a walk in the Tram Common. Everything was fine at first… We didn’t expect anything bad to happen. But suddenly…” He inhaled a shuttered breath, “Suddenly, there were… bombs.” Vanitas shook his head and roughly whipped his eyes. “I only had a split second to react and I… I could only save one of them.”

Sora’s eyes widened. The Tram Common? He and Riku were near there not too long ago! Sora hadn’t even felt any vibrations in the ground. Were they far away enough that the ground waves didn’t reach them? Sora shook his head to get his thoughts back on track. He finished tending to Ven’s wounds and crossed around the bed to hug Vanitas, who had found himself a stool to sit on. “None of this is your fault.”

“If I hadn’t been such an idiot and helped Xehanort in the past,” Vanitas curled inward and shook with stuttered breathing, “none of this would have happened!” 

Sora squeezed him tighter, “You can’t change the past. Those around you can see you’ve been trying to make a difference.”

Vanitas weakly shook his head and sniffled, “Everyone who trusted me died because of me.” 

Several tear drops landed on Sora’s collarbone. It made Sora want to cry too, but he had to stay strong for Vanitas. His brother rarely ever cried, and when he did, he usually tried to play it off. He didn’t like having others’ sympathy. Sora was thankful that his voice wasn’t currently croaky from his sore throat. He shook his head and lightly rubbed small circles on Vanitas’s back, “That’s not true. I trust you, and I’m still alive, right?”

A moment of silence and hushed breathing passed before Vanitas slowly started nodding his head in agreement. 

Sora pulled back a little, still keeping his hands on Vanitas’s shoulders. “Can I tend to your wounds?”

Vanitas shook his head, “Mine aren’t as bad.” His voice was hoarse, but he looked up and was able to meet Sora’s eyes -- they were still filled with tears. “I can handle them myself.”

There was a sinking feeling in Sora’s stomach, but he had to show his brother he trusted him. He gave Vanitas’s shoulders a squeeze before stepping back, “Okay. I’ll be in the other room.”

A quick thank you was muttered before Vanitas went around the bed and began tending to his own wounds. 

Sora slowly walked to the door archway, giving one last glance at Vanitas before leaving. Riku was in the hallway, leaning against the wall, staring at the ground with downcast eyes. When Sora approached, he looked up and they walked to the other room together. 

“Where did you learn to tend to wounds like that?” Riku asked softly. 

“I shadowed under Doctor Yen Sid some time ago. I had to write an article about Bright materials, like Bright Crystal, in the medical field, and it turned out to be of great interest to me.”

Riku glanced down at Sora, “Would you become a doctor if you could?”

Sora shrugged and turned on the TV in the living room, lowering the volume. “Maybe. But I really enjoy writing.” 

Riku smirked, “I think it suits you.”

“Yeah?” Sora turned back and found a seat on the couch right after Riku sat down.

“You’re very… persuasive. You could get anyone to believe you if you wanted.”

Sora put his hands on his hips, “My goal is to make people see the truth.”

A short chuckle left Riku’s lips -- he was laughing more recently, and Sora realized he liked the sound of that. “I’m saying you’ll be able to do just that.”

“Oh,” Sora laughed and rubbed the back of his neck. 

Suddenly, their attention was turned back to the TV.

“Earlier tonight, the Tram Common was struck by explosives. Victims say they saw Vanitas -- a man who has a criminal history -- in the area when they went off. Police and detectives are still searching for him,” A mugshot of Vanitas showed on the screen, “but if you see this man, make sure to report to the authorities immediately.”

Sora sighed and got up to turn off the TV, “It’s not fair.”

Riku opened his mouth as if to say something, but closed his jaw and remained silent. 

“Vanitas… wasn’t as lucky as me.” Sora slowly made his way back to the couch, “After we got out of school, I almost instantly got a job, but it seemed like no matter what Vanitas did, no one was giving him a job. One night, Xehanort approached him and offered him one--” Sora started coughing into his elbow and Riku instantly got up to grab Sora’s glass of water from earlier. Sora took it and drank a few gulps. He said a quick thanks but took a moment before continuing, “He was desperate. He wanted the approval of our parents and needed money, so he accepted. But… Xehanort only made his life worse. I’m happy he was able to get out before it got too far, but it already stained his record. People have only recently begun accepting him again, and then this happens.”

“I’m gonna kill that fucker the next time I see him,” Vanitas suddenly spoke. 

Sora quickly turned to Vanitas -- who was crossing his arms in the doorway -- and he frowned, “Vani, that’s illegal. We’re trying to get you _away_ from stuff like that.”

Vanitas huffed and glanced towards the ground, “I know. I just… I don’t want him ruining my life anymore.” 

“We’re doing what we can to stop him,” Sora spoke softly. 

“If it makes you feel any better,” Riku suddenly spoke up, “We’re all wanted men.”

There was a small curl to Vanitas’s lips that could be easy to overlook, but it was there. 

Sora turned to Riku and grinned. They were off to a good start! 

Suddenly, a timer went off and Sora perked up, “Perfect timing! Dinner’s ready!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't mind the seasoned duck! That's not supposed to mean anything. I was looking at a list of food people ate around the 40s timeframe and duck was one of them 
> 
> If you skipped the slight panic attack part, the only plot thing you need to know about it is that Wayfinder Trio and Vanitas were out shopping, but something happened and Vani was only able to save Ven
> 
> If it's not at the top of your head, the bright materials (crystals, etc.) are synthesis items used to make cure/cura/curaga in some of the games. I thought it would be fun to reference them in the medical field since this fic has a slight bit of fantasy :D


	5. Repliku

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy halfway through! <3

It was dark and lukewarm. He felt suspended as if in thin air. Though no matter how hard he tried, he could barely move. The most he could achieve was to open and close his eyes, but his sight was blurry, and keeping his eyes open too long gave him a headache. 

Voices could be heard. They were muffed, but if he tried to focus hard enough, he could make out the words being said. 

“How is his progress?” It was a deep, slow voice that spoke.

Another voice that sounded devious responded, “He’s nearly complete.” There were a few… clicks? Taps? It was hard to make out. “We should have him done within the week.”

“And his memories?” The first voice asked. 

This time, a female voice answered, “I finished relinking his memory chains last night. I’m just going through and double-checking everything.” She sounded familiar. If he thought hard enough, he could imagine shoulder-length blonde hair and baby-blue eyes. 

A new voice entered the conversation, “What’s this, boss?” He sounded arrogant. 

“The Replica Program,” It was the deep voice again. “With Riku going AWOL, he could be a threat to the Agency. With this replica, we can keep the public from his disappearance -- keeping them under control -- and we’ll still have access to Riku’s skills. With Riku Replica’s devotion to the Agency, Riku would be forced into submission, not having access to the police anymore.”

“Sounds like a grand plan, but Riku Replica? That’s a mouthful. Why don’t we just combine the words and call him Repliku?”

“Indeed. No need to waste your breath on him.”

So that’s what he was. Just a clone to replicate someone who messed up. 

✧✦✧ 

It’s been a few months since Repliku’s creation. He’s been working closely with Naminé since he was introduced to the Agency. Her presence always felt familiar, and he could think back on all the time they spent together. Most of it was artificial -- He knew that, she did too, and so did everyone else in the Agency -- but it was the only thing he could hang on to as a semblance of a ‘past’. Whether he was given one or not, he would probably still linger around Naminé, as she was the only one kind enough to actually listen and let him stay in the same room while she worked. 

Repliku was in Naminé’s office, looking out the window while she worked on analyzing data he collected from his latest investigation. 

“Do you think I’ll ever get my own name?” Repliku asked as he followed the trails of raindrops racing down the window. 

There was a pause in Naminé’s typing, “I’m sure you’re bound to get your own name one day.” Then she continued to examine her work. 

Repliku sighed, “Yeah, but,” He paused, thinking over the right words to say before continuing, “What do I have to do to make the boss see I’m not like _him_?”

Naminé stopped her work again and actually looked at Repliku with a frown on her face. 

Her gaze bore into Repliku and he kept his eyes towards the street -- spotting one of their coworkers leaving the building, hidden under a large umbrella. He let out a sigh, “I know he recognizes my hard work, but each time he comments on it, it just relates back to Riku. I get the real one was a great asset for the boss, but he’s gone now. Xemnas had me created for the very purpose of replacing him, but he couldn’t even give me my own name.”

“If you had your own name, what would you want it to be?” Naminé asked softly. 

Repliku gasped inaudibly and took a moment before glancing at her, then back out the window again, “Akimitsu.”

“That’s a beautiful name.” She spoke in a way that Repliku could practically hear her smile and awe. It made him feel good. 

There was an upward curl to Repliku’s lips, “Thank you.”

Suddenly, Zexion made his presence known as he stood in the doorframe.

“How’s the data analysis coming along, Naminé?” Zexion asked, though his gaze lingered on Repliku. 

“I’m nearly done,” Naminé spoke -- causing Zexion to look at her instead. “Repliku was just filling me in on some new information.”

Zexion nodded then left without another word. 

Repliku pushed himself from the wall, “I suppose I should get going.”

“I’m nearly done with my work,” Naminé tried to convince Repliku to stay. Her baby-blue eyes were wide and looked like they were starting to get puffy due to her lack of sleep. 

It was starting to get late and the offices were beginning to close for the night. But taking another look at Naminé’s pleading eyes had won Repliku over. He smiled, “Okay.” Besides, the later it got, the fewer people stayed in the offices -- the chances of having another interruption was unlikely. He was thankful that it was merely the soft-spoken Zexion who intruded, as the young forensic scientist didn’t care much for gossip. 

✧✦✧ 

A few hours later, Repliku was sitting against a wall near Naminé’s desk. He had felt himself drifting off before Naminé suddenly spoke up. 

“I finished!” 

Repliku was startled awake but was thankful he hadn’t jolted. He briefly looked out into the hall, but it was shrouded in shadows, meaning everyone else must’ve already gone home. He looked up at Naminé and smiled, slowly getting up and stretching. By the looks of her droopy eyes, he could tell she was exhausted. “Now that you’re done, you can finally get some rest.”

Naminé nodded and got up, but stumbled a little when she tried to take a step away from her desk. Repliku steadied her and made sure she could stand straight before letting her go. 

“Thank you,” Naminé mentioned. 

“You need to make sure you stop overworking yourself.”

There was a tired smile on Naminé’s lips, “I know. It’s just -- I really like my job and I lose track of time easily.”

Repliku let out a soft chuckle. Of course she lost track of time. If he had known her data analysis would’ve taken another few hours he would’ve made sure she stopped right after Zexion’s short visit. “I can walk you home if you’d like,” Repliku offered. He’d hate for Naminé to collapse from exhaustion in the middle of the street. 

Naminé nodded, “That would be nice. Thank you.” 

✧✦✧ 

After Repliku dropped off Naminé at her place, he had to make his way to his own. Unfortunately, it was across town, in Sunset Terrace. The walk was long, and he could’ve sworn he’d collapse himself at any given second. But suddenly, he saw someone -- no two people -- pass underneath a lamplight in front of him. Repliku rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn’t hallucinating, but the two people passed underneath another lamplight. One of them had shoulder-length silver hair very similar to his own and the other had wild brown hair. Could this be the real one and the manipulator? It was just his luck seeing them tonight! 

“Hey!” Repliku called out to them, not hiding the anger in his tone. He pulled out his pistol. It was Xemnas’s orders to take care of the original Riku and whoever he associated with -- being a traitor who sided with a murderer. He fired off two shots.

In quick succession: The two strangers dodged and turned around.

Repliku only briefly heard one of them begin to ask, “There’s two of--”

Before Riku yelled, “Get down!” while simultaneously pushing them aside. 

He really did sound like the original, Repliku realized. But there was no time to be thinking about that now! Perhaps if Repliku didn’t let anger get the best of him, he could’ve hit them both with the bullets he’d just fired. But instead, the shots missed. 

Riku ran towards him while Sora went to safety behind a building. Repliku wanted to stop the other from escaping by shooting at them, but before his finger pulled the trigger, Riku pushed his arm out of the way. Repliku snarled at him and elbowed him in the chin. Riku stumbled back a few paces before charging at Repliku and grabbing at his wrists. In an attempt to release Riku’s hold on him, he kneed the original in the stomach. Riku bent over but managed to keep Repliku’s pistol from pointing at him. Then suddenly, Riku was hit in the nose by Repliku’s knee. During his distraction, Repliku took a hold of Riku’s wrist and the lapels of his trench coat and quickly threw him on the ground, causing Riku to cough once loudly at the sudden loss of air. 

“Riku!” Sora shouted.

As Repliku turned, he saw the other man had come out from his hiding place. Repliku took this chance to shoot at Sora, piercing him in the thigh as he let out a blood-curdling scream and collapsed forward. 

“No! Sora!” Riku sprung to his feet but was stopped when Repliku tsked and cocked his gun. 

“If you make another move,” Repliku declared, “I’ll blow his head off! So I suggest you stay your place.”

Riku was frozen in his spot. Turquoise eyes widened in fear. Perfect! Repliku had the upper hand. 

“Now,” Repliku drew out as he slowly turned back to Sora, keeping his eyes on Riku until he was out of peripheral vision, “What do we have here?” Noticing the crown necklace resting upon Sora’s heart. He walked forward, slowly yet deliberately. 

Sora held a hand to his thigh, putting pressure on the wound, as he was attempting to scoot back but wincing with each movement. Silent tears were rolling down his cheeks as he met Repliku’s eyes. 

Just as Repliku got close enough, he knelt down to tug the crown necklace. Sora wasn’t able to resist, given his weak state. “I remember this,” Repliku stated. “It was mother’s protection charm.” He turned it around in his hand. “I remember the day my mother gave it to me. We were on a trip in the next city over, and I was climbing a palm tree. I could’ve sworn something attacked me, and I fell.”

“What’s with the story all of the sudden?” Riku spoke steadily. It was enough to show that he wasn’t happy with the situation, yet had enough patience to prevent Repliku from lashing out. 

“She gave me this crown necklace. She told me, as long as I wore it, I would be protected. I never once thought of parting from it. Yet, here I see it around someone else’s neck.” Repliku bitterly snapped out those last words. 

Sora swallowed hard but had yet to make another sound. 

“Because I swore to protect Sora,” Riku spoke in almost a whisper. 

Repliku tilted his head back and let out a loud laugh, “What good you’re doing at that!” 

“If mother hadn't given me the protection charm, she might still be alive.”

“If mother was still alive, we wouldn’t be in this situation.” Repliku let go of the necklace and turned to look at Riku, “Or did you forget the whole reason why you became a detective in the first place?”

Riku snarled, “For justice. Because father killed her and I wanted to figure out who all the murderers were so I could finally create the peaceful town mother deserved.” 

“Justice,” Repliku repeated snidely. “Is siding with a murderer ‘justice’ to you?” 

Riku slowly closed his turquoise eyes and bowed his head, “Please… don’t…”

“Don’t what? Don’t bring justice to this town?”

“It wasn’t him.”

“He’s _manipulated_ you!”

“I just want to--” Sora started before he was kicked back and let out a struggled cough as his back hit the ground. 

“You don’t get a say in this!” Repliku snapped.

“Stop!” Riku shouted and took a step forward. 

“I said to stay in your place!” Repliku swiftly pulled Sora up by the front of his shirt and then held him in a headlock as he pressed the barrel of his pistol to Sora’s temple. 

Sora was shaking and Repliku could feel the warm tears drip onto his arm. 

“Maybe once Sora’s dead,” Repliku started, “his spell on you will diminish.”

Riku stared with his mouth agape. 

“Now, because I’m you, I’m going to give you a chance to get your job back. Maybe you’ll take it back and I won’t have to just be your clone anymore.” Repliku quickly turned to throw Sora into the building behind them as he grabbed for his walkie-talkie and then pinned Sora against the wall with his forearm, as his gun still aimed at the suspect. “Boss, this is…” He hesitated, hating the name he was given, “Repliku.”

“It’s late at night. What is it?” Xemnas didn’t sound too thrilled. Repliku would admit, if he was called past midnight, he wouldn’t be happy either -- but this was important!

“I found the Manipulator, Sora!”

“Did you now?” The boss’s voice sounded as if he perked up a bit. “And what of Riku?”

Repliku shot a side-eyed glance at his original, “It seems he wasn’t around.”

“Hmm. Well, then what did you make of Sora?”

“I shot him, but he’s not dead. I called to see if you had any other special instructions for him before I gave the killing shot.”

“Very well. Bring him to the offices, I’ll take care of matters from there.”

“Will do. I’ll see you soon.”

Xemnas didn’t respond after that. 

Repliku pulled Sora forward and put him in another headlock. “You should be grateful!” He called out at his original, “You might just get your life back because of me!”

Riku seemed to be too stunned to talk. 

“It’ll be okay!” Sora attempted to shout against the pressure around his neck and through his tears. 

The only response Sora got was Riku shaking his head and whispering, “No… Not without you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For clarification, the characters in the first scene: Xemnas is asking about the progress, Vexen is the one who updates him, Namine's the one who's altering Repliku's memories (some more fantasy~), and then the arrogant voice is Xigbar
> 
> A continuation from a few chapters' ago notes: while Vexen and Zexion do the science parts of forensic science, Namine analyzes the data and makes sure everything looks good. And of course, when it comes to the Replica Program, she can deal with the science side too while implementing memories into their subjects~
> 
> The name Repliku wants to be called, Akimitsu, means bright light! :D I don't have a set real-name I call him by, but I wanted him to have a real name in this fic, and I was looking at 'Riku is the light' posts around the time I was trying to find a real name for Repliku


	6. Riku

It was the following afternoon. Low rumbles of thunder could be heard off in the distance. Outside the window, the sky was dark with heavy clouds, yet it wasn’t raining. 

Riku had barely gotten any sleep and when he did, he had nightmares showing him all the different ways Xemnas could have been killing Sora: burning alive, strangulation, bleeding out, shooting squad, electric chair… the list went on. 

Not long ago, Ven had brought in a newspaper -- he's been doing better as of late. The good news? Sora was still alive. The bad news? There was going to be a public hanging tomorrow. Riku hadn’t been able to think straight since reading the announcement. They didn’t have any leads where Sora could be held. Riku let out a sigh that turned into a growling scream and threw the newspaper back on the table in front of him.

“Hey!” Vanitas shouted. 

Oh yeah, he and Ven were still in the room. They’d been so quiet after handing over the newspaper that Riku forgot they were even still around.

Vanitas strode toward Riku and shoved him a bit harshly against the wall, “I get you’re angry, but you’re not the only one that’s affected. Sora’s touched a lot of hearts -- that’s his specialty. So you need to clear your head and start taking up the position you’ve volunteered for before the others get here.”

He was right, Riku realized. Vanitas was Sora’s own twin brother, and he was keeping it together better than Riku! Riku inhaled a stuttered breath, “You’re right. I’m sorry.”

“I don’t need you to be sorry,” Vanitas poked him sharply in the sternum. “I need you to come up with a plan to save Sora.”

Riku nodded quickly, “Right.”

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. He was out of time. 

“Come in!” Riku announced. 

It seemed everyone arrived around the same time. Leon, Yuffie, Tifa, and Cid took up one corner of the room, while Axel and Saïx stood in another. Vanitas and Ven remained in their spots. The group was segregated without Sora. 

Riku inhaled, “If you’ve read today’s newspaper, you’d know the state Sora’s in. He’s alive, but he’ll be getting the death penalty tomorrow.”

There was an almost unison gasp that spread across the room. 

“Do you have any leads?” Leon asked. 

The hardest part of being with this group was when Sora wasn’t here -- he was the one that tied everyone together. Riku slightly bowed his head, “No. But,” he looked back up and scanned the different members, “I wanted everyone together to see what we could come up with. Maybe not one person knows all the answers, but talking together could conjure up a plan.” 

The looks among the group weren’t… pleasing to say the least. Some members were glaring at him, others weren’t even looking in his direction. This might be harder than Riku thought.

“I… suppose we could start with what we know,” Riku continued. “Sora believed the Agency’s boss, Xemnas, was linked to the crimes happening recently. Being in a high position in Law enforcement would help overlook certain criminal activity or frame others for them. It was Sora’s goal to wean the truth from him, but without Sora being with us right now, that’s difficult to accomplish.” He turned his attention to the blue-haired man, “Saïx, I know you’ve been rising in the ranks and getting closer to Xemnas lately. Has he said anything that could be used as evidence yet?”

Saïx shook his head briefly, “No. Though I have noticed a secret room in his office.” His green eyes narrowed as he recalled it. “I haven’t been there myself, so I can’t guarantee what’s there, but it’s behind the tall dresser.”

Riku perked up. He knew he shouldn’t get his hopes up, but this was the closest lead they had! “If Sora really is held there, I assume Xemnas would have his associates guarding the place.”

“Perhaps not,” Saïx commented. “Xemnas invited me to a meeting tonight.”

“Do you know what it’s for?”

Saïx turned away and closed his eyes for a moment, “Not a clue. He only mentioned something about an initiation.”

Suddenly, Vanitas spoke up, “An initiation?”

The whole group turned to look at him, and Saïx nodded. 

“Xehanort once had me initiated before.” He bared his teeth just at the thought, “There was a whole group of criminal leaders there. They had me conduct a blood oath and then drink from a skull.” 

"When you were there, did you see Xemnas?" Riku asked.

Vanitas shook his head, "It was hard to tell. Most of the others were in shadow. There were a handful of members who had silver hair, but I never got a good look at any of their faces."

“This is a hitch,” Riku started, “but if this is the same kind of initiation, then we could exploit Xemnas and his criminal associates. We just need to relay it to the cops, but I’m not really in a position to speak with them anymore.” He put a hand to his chin, “Not since the replica of me was created -- he’s publicly declared his high devotion to the Agency, so if I say anything against it or Xemnas, they’d know something was wrong.”

“I… might know a few people that could help,” Axel scratched the back of his neck. “I don’t really know them personally, but they were friends of Roxas, and I met them enough times to be familiar with them.”

Riku’s turquoise eyes widened with hope again, “So we could relay the message to them! We’ll have one walkie-talkie with Saïx during his meeting, and the other with them.”

“Sure, I’ll try to get it worked out with them,” Axel shrugged. 

“Sounds like you’re coming up with a whole plan on a hitch,” Leon commented.

Riku met his cold stare, “I swore I’d protect Sora, and I failed. I would put anything and everything on the line if it meant getting him back.”

“You could be putting others’ lives in danger.”

Riku bowed his head, “I know… If I could, I would do this entire mission on my own.”

“Well,” Axel slapped a hand on Riku’s shoulder, “you can count me in. I may not know Sora as much as most of you, but I’ve come to realize he’s the key to helping me bring justice to the murderer of my best friends. By helping Sora, I’m indirectly helping them.”

Saïx nodded behind Axel, “I may not be there, but I’ll do my part as well.”

Riku glanced in the direction of Vanitas and Ven, and Vanitas slowly shook his head. “As much as I want to help save my brother, I know how important his work is to him. If things go south, someone needs to stay behind and continue the job.”

"Plus," Ven added, "I'm still healing. I might hold you up."

Finally, the attention was back on Leon’s group, “Well?” Riku asked. 

Leon crossed his arms and closed his eyes, “As I said, it’s a danger to other people. I won’t be putting my life on the line according to a hitch. If the plan had more concrete info, then there’s no doubt I would do my best to save Sora, but we don’t even know if he’s actually there. Plus, there’s still people who need the Restoration Committee around, no matter how your stunt plays out.” 

✧✦✧

The sun had finally set and all who were now in Sora’s HQ were Riku, Vanitas, and Ven. Axel just arrived again.

Riku turned to him, “How did it go?”

“Pretty well, actually,” Axel responded. “Turns out one of the officers, Pence, was working on a smaller version of walkie-talkies. The only defect is that they’re constantly on, but that actually works better for us. He gave me one of the prototypes, we tested it, and then I found Saïx before he left for the meeting and gave him the other one.”

“Good!” Riku inhaled and a small smile formed on his lips. Just the thought of saving Sora made him hopeful -- even if for the moment. “Then I guess it’s time we start our mission.”

“Try not to die,” Vanitas called out. It almost sounded sarcastic, but Riku learned over the months that’s just how he talks. 

✧✦✧

By the time Riku and Axel arrived at the offices, it gave off an eerie feeling. Dark shadows loomed beyond them. The only light came from a few nearby streetlights and a faded glow from the moon behind some clouds. The inside of the building remained a darkened void. An owl hooted off in the distance, being the only sound except for their soft footsteps on the pavement. 

Axel took out his work key and unlocked the door with a seemingly deafening click in the otherwise silent night. 

The two remained still for merely a second before sliding inside and closing the door behind them. Even on the inside, it seemed as if everything was devoid of light. Riku flicked on a flashlight and scanned the area. He almost expected to be caught right away, but when the light showed only an empty hallway with closed offices, Riku let out a soft breath of relief. As the two walked past the rooms, he shined the light inside them, just to make sure they were truly empty -- and they were. It almost seemed more nerve-wracking that no one was here. Or, was this a part of Xemnas’s plan to lower their guard?

It didn’t take long before they entered Xemnas’s office. The two got on either side of the tall dresser and moved it aside. Behind the dresser, they saw the light outline of a door in the wall. Riku felt around the wall for anything to latch his nail under and suddenly found one. 

With a tilt of his fingers, there was a soft ‘pop’ sound as the door opened. 

Behind it, there was a downward staircase leading to an even darker void. Riku slowly descended first, then Axel followed closely behind. 

Once they reached the bottom, it smelled terrible -- similarly to a murder scene. Riku shook his head in an attempt to banish those thoughts. He didn’t want to think after all this, Sora would be dead. When he examined the way ahead, it seemed as if there was a light at the end of the hall. Riku flicked off his flashlight, and so it was true, the light remained.

As they got closer to the light, they began seeing lines of cells. Riku stopped by one, looking inside. His breath hitched in his throat. There was a skeleton laid curled up on the floor. Before Riku could think more on it, Axel softly shouted.

“Roxas! Xion! Sora!” Axel took a pair of keys from the wall and opened the gate to three cells. 

Roxas? Xion? They were still alive after all? When Riku glanced inside, it didn’t bring much joy. Roxas and Xion were leaning against the wall that separated them. They both had visible bones and sunken cheeks. Riku felt sick in the stomach. The second he saw Sora though, his heart broke into two. Sora was much worse off, despite being there for even less time. He was covered in cuts and bruises his mouth was gagged, and his hands were bound behind his back. 

“Sora!” Riku quickly knelt beside him and untied the gag and unlocked the cuffs around his wrists. 

“R... ku…?” Sora’s voice was hoarse. 

Riku cradled him in his arms, “Shh… It’s okay. I got you.” He lightly caressed Sora’s cheek.

Sora weakly raised a hand to lay on top of Riku’s and attempted a smile, “F… nd me”

Just as Riku left the cell holding Sora in his arms, he was met with his own _tsk_ , but they weren’t coming from himself. His replica was here, and standing next to him was Naminé. 

Riku held Sora tighter, “Don’t hurt him! Not again.”

Repliku tossed his head to the side and let out a hum, “You see, I’m in a strange place right now. I figured it was odd that Xemnas wanted me to meet with our murderer at the offices rather than having me turn him in myself to the prison. It would’ve been less work for him, after all.”

“It’s no… him” Roxas suddenly spoke as Axel helped him out of his cell. 

There was a curl to Repliku’s lips, “So, you’re alive…”

“Xig..bar,” Roxas coughed weakly. “It’s him.”

Repliku hummed in response. 

“So what’s it going to be?” Riku asked tersely, “Are you going to finish us off, or what?”

“Well, seeing as Xemnas has been lying about a thing or two,” Repliku took a few strides closer. “It doesn’t seem right to follow his orders anymore.”

Riku stood his ground, “You think we’re friends now after what you did?”

“R....” Sora started but coughed harshly, to which Riku quickly hushed gently.

“I’m saying it doesn’t look like you have a choice. You have to accept our help. By the looks of it, you only have two stable people. And if I remember correctly, there should be 3 people trapped in these dungeons. Sora, and then the two detectives he supposedly murdered.”

Riku was looking at Sora with concern, then glared up at his replica, “I’m sure we can handle them.”

“And what about your gun-power?” Repliku shrugged in a mocking manner. Whatever he wanted, he was sure he was going to get it. “You can’t possibly carry one or two people and be able to operate a fire-arm as well when your hands aren’t free.” They were being cornered. 

“There’s no one here. The offices are closed, and Xemnas’s associates should be at his meeting.”

Repliku rolled his eyes, “ _Should be_. One thing I know you know is that Xemnas always has some hidden plans.” He let his turquoise eyes scan the area around them, “I’d be willing to bet he’s got someone hiding around here or somehow has his eyes on us right about now.”

Riku inhaled a soft, yet stuttered breath before speaking confidently again, “Why do you want to help? What's in it for you?"

"There's a thing or two I want to settle with the boss. He left us in the dark for months, a year, maybe even longer for some. If what I hear is true, your little friend could help me get revenge."

"We're not here to kill Xemnas."

"Sometimes there are worse things than death. So, what's it going to be? Are you going to allow us to help?"

It's not like they had much choice. Like his replica stated, they didn't have enough members to carry their injured friends _and_ use their guns if they were found. "Fine. You can help.”

Immediately, Naminé went to help up Xion from her cell. 

✧✦✧

The group began to make their way back towards the other end of the hall. 

Suddenly, Riku tripped, though he didn’t know on what. He kept Sora’s head protected as they fell. After regaining himself, Riku was knelt beside Sora, ready to pick him up again before he realized Sora was already standing perfectly before him.

“Sora…?” Riku looked up at his injured friend, “But I thought you were hurt. You shouldn’t be putting weight on your leg just yet.”

Sora slowly leaned down in front of him, tapping his fingertips on Riku’s chest. “I’ve been thinking…” 

Riku began to feel uneasy. There was something off. He stood up and took a step back. 

Sora took a step forward. “You’ve been helping me all this time. And I’ve gotta say, you’ve helped me quite a lot.”

Riku took another step back, gulping. “Sora?”

Sora took another step forward. “Without you, I would’ve never gotten this far. Yet here we are,” Sora spread his arms out as if to enunciate his meaning, “about to find all the secrets of the Agency.” 

Riku took another step back. He’s reached the end. There was nothing more than a wall behind him. 

Sora took another step forward. Hand flat on Riku’s chest, practically pinning him against the wall with Riku’s fear of hurting Sora. He swore to protect Sora! Was he wrong? Was he really manipulated? 

“Sora, what are you talking about?” Riku asked, “You said you wanted to uncover the murder framings--”

Sora let out a sinister laugh and shook his head. When he looked back at Riku, he had a devilish grin and a glint in his blue eyes -- or did they have a tint of gold? “Don’t you get it, Riku? I _used_ you.”

“No…” Riku shook his head. Sora wouldn’t. Or, at least, Riku thought he wouldn’t. 

“I don’t need you. Not anymore.” Sora pulled out a revolver. When did Sora get a gun? He’d never harmed anyone. Was it all a lie? Was this past year a lie? Were Sora’s feelings for Riku a lie? 

_BANG!_

Riku choked on himself. He held a hand to his numbing chest. When he pulled it back, it was covered in slick, red liquid. 

“No,” Riku wanted to say, but all that came out was a garbled mess. He coughed and blood splattered in front of him. On his arm. On Sora. On the ground.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They're not all stated, but I had a list of other crimes that occurred before this fic takes place
> 
> The walkie-talkies that Pence made are pretty much the ear-pieces you see in modern spy movies. I feel like Pence would be inventing things beyond his time if given the chance


	7. Sora

The group was making their way down the hall. Sora thought they’d make it until he felt a sudden jolt in Riku’s movements and they were falling forward. 

Sora didn’t hurt as much, thanks to Riku protecting him from the fall, but everything was still a bit hazy after what Xemnas put him through. He hadn’t known someone to be so malevant. In just a few days -- weeks? No, Sora didn’t think it had been that long, realistically. But it didn’t take long for the days to blur together and he lost track of time during his questioning -- his beatings. But now, he might actually be free from it all. 

“Ri… ku?” Sora managed to speak through his still sore throat. 

“Sora?” Riku was kneeling beside him but wasn’t looking at him. He was looking up?

“I’m… he-”

“But I thought you were hurt,” Riku continued as if he hadn’t even heard Sora. “You shouldn’t be putting weight on your leg just yet.”

Sora let out a confused hum but Riku was starting to take several steps back until his back hit the wall and continued to talk nonsense. 

“Are y... okay?” Sora cautiously asked. What was going on?

“Sora, what are you talking about?” Riku asked, “You said you wanted to uncover the murder framings--”

Sora shook his head, “...ot making… sense.”

“No…”

Behind him, Sora heard the beginning of a fight. It took some more concentration to turn his neck and see behind him. When he did, he saw the Riku look-alike and blonde girl fighting a silver-haired man. On the other side of the hallway, Axel stood guard in front of Roxas and Xion. 

Riku choked on himself, drawing Sora’s attention back to him. He held a hand to his chest then took it back to examine it.

Riku made a gurgling sound. 

Sora saw Riku stumble. He reached out a hand before Riku fell to the ground, still choking on himself. 

“R- ku!” Sora grimaced at the pain that shot through his neck and chest but Riku needed help! Sora mustered all of his strength to make it to Riku’s side before collapsing next to him. 

Riku was struggling to breathe now, shuttering with half-lidded eyes. 

Sora gently laid a hand on his face, rubbing his thumb back and forth across his cheek. He didn’t think he had enough energy to speak at a normal volume, so he resorted to a soft whisper, “It… goin... be okay.” Sora managed a weak smile, though he knew Riku couldn’t see him. His turquoise eyes were gazing far off in the distance. “ Y...’re goin... be okay. We’re almo... done.” 

Not long later, Sora heard a thump behind him. Sora hoped it was the intruder that went down. They needed all the help they could get. Suddenly, Riku inhaled a deep breath and his eyes were coming back into focus. When he seemed to finally see Sora, he quickly rolled away and started having a coughing fit though it was short-lived. Once Riku composed himself and was finally breathing again, Sora put his hand on Riku’s, drawing his attention back.

“How… ’re you feelin...?” Sora asked. 

Instead of those beautiful turquoise eyes filled with adoration, Sora only saw terror fill them. “Sora?” He asked softly. Hesitantly. What happened just now?

Sora nodded shortly but winced with the subtle motion, hoping Riku would understand, “I’m here.” 

Almost immediately, Sora realized Riku’s arms were around him. This wasn’t quite like him. He was almost always more calm and collected. Sora wouldn’t object to more hugs, though they would feel better when they weren’t putting pressure on all his injuries. He let out a soft grunt and Riku pulled back.

“Sorry!” Riku kept his hands lightly on Sora’s shoulders, “Is it really you, Sora?”

“Wha… ‘ppened?” Sora asked softly.

“I don’t know,” Riku shook his head. “One second, we were making our escape, then the next I saw you, but… you were different. You were saying how you didn’t need me anymore and then you pulled out a gun and shot me.”

Sora gasped softly and brought a hand to lightly squeeze one of Riku's hands and reassure Riku that this was him. He was really here this time. “I… never.”

“I know.” 

“It sounds like Zexion got to Riku before we found him,” Naminé spoke as she approached. 

Everyone looked at her. 

Sora cocked his head to the side, but thankfully it was Axel who asked the question instead. “What do you mean? He didn’t even get near us before Riku started acting weird.”

Naminé glanced back towards Zexion’s lifeless body. “He doesn’t need to have contact to capture someone in one of his illusion tricks.”

“Will Riku…. okay?” Sora asked, “Ar… tricks done… now?”

Naminé nodded, “Thankfully, Zexion’s illusion tricks don’t have lasting effects after the illusion ends -- as long as the victim knows it was just a trick.”

Riku lightly shook his head and cradled Sora to his chest before standing. He stumbled slightly but caught himself before they could fall. 

Once they’d all gotten situated and were on their way back to the stairs--

_BANG! BANG! BANG!_

Yet no one seemed to be hit. Sora turned his head towards the commotion and saw a man with an eyepatch step into the light. 

“I suppose the boss was right, you played right into our trap,” Xigbar grinned devilishly, keeping his submachine guns pointed at the group. 

Sora felt his heart drop into his stomach. Were they ever going to make it out alive? During his time here, Xemnas had made sure to make him beg for his life. Of course, he never would’ve granted it. After hours of slow torture, he simply asked whether Sora wanted to continue with it or if he’d admit to his crimes and receive a public death penalty. Though Sora knew he was innocent, he also knew he wouldn’t last much longer being tortured. 

Suddenly, Sora was cut through his daze when he heard a loud yelp coming from above him. When he looked up, Riku’s face was contorted in pain, with his teeth clenched and deep breathing through his nose. He stumbled to kneel and set Sora against the wall yet continued to be a body shield from their attacker. 

“Hey,” Riku spoke hoarsely, “It’s going to be okay.”

Sora reached out a hand and Riku interlaced their fingers. “You have… stop th… bleeding.” 

Riku nodded then took his hand back and took out a pocket knife to cut a portion off his own trench coat. He inhaled deeply then tightly wrapped the wound in his arm. He let out a sharp hiss.

“Breathe,” Sora reminded him. 

Riku inhaled a considerable amount of breath then leaned forward and kissed Sora’s forehead before leaning against the wall next to him, struggling to breathe. This was the weakest state Sora’s ever seen him, though he knew of others who would be reduced to this after being shot -- especially after what just happened with Zexion's illusions. Sora interlaced their fingers again and gave them a squeeze, to which Riku repeated back. 

With Riku now next to him, Sora saw the rest of the group in the middle of fighting the one-eyed man. He was surprisingly fast, almost as if he were appearing and disappearing around the group -- as if he was taunting them. Naminé, Repliku, and Axel were trying to hold their ground next to each other, watching the others’ backs. Roxas and Xion were laid against the wall across from Sora and Riku.

“I’m a bit surprised you decided to join them, Axel,” Xigbar commented before seemingly disappearing again. “Now, with all the others, it makes a little more sense. Riku fell in love with the perpetrator, his replica was bound to follow in his footsteps by betraying the Agency, bringing Naminé in too. But Axel?” Xigbar’s laugh echoed throughout the hall. “You went ahead and ditched your boyfriend.”

Axel snarled and shot his revolver the moment he saw Xigbar appear but the shot missed just as he seemed to dodge it. “I didn’t ditch him!”

“Oh yeah? What do you call abandoning him to go help the person who murdered your own best friends?” Xigbar shot around the group. It seemed to be more of a fear tactic to let them know he can and will shoot if they misbehaved. 

“That’s not what happened!”

“That doesn’t seem to be the way he saw it. He went ahead and revealed all your little plans about coming here.” Xigbar shrugged to himself. 

While he was caught off guard, Axel launched himself forward in an attempt to attack Xigbar. He miscalculated. Xigbar stepped around him, grabbing one arm to swing Axel in front of him so he could thrust his knee into Axel’s chest, then tossed him aside. 

Just as Sora reached out his free hand as if that could help Axel, he heard a loud choked cough. Turning in the direction of where it came from, he saw Xigbar let out another cough, coating himself in splattered red. 

“Axel never left me, and I never betrayed him,” Saïx spoke sternly behind Xigbar. “We were just really good at playing the act.”

Xigbar let out another cough, “Well played.” Then he collapsed to the ground. 

Sora let out a sigh of relief and rested his head against Riku’s bicep. “Can we g... ‘ome yet?”

Riku squeezed his hand, “Is there anyone else… to worry about?” 

“There are 7 others a part of the Agency but not Xemnas’s cult,” Saïx responded. “The only two apart of his cult that didn’t make it to the ceremony were Xigbar, Zexion, and Vexen.”

“We took care of Zexion earlier,” Naminé spoke. 

Saïx was silent for a moment and cocked his brow at the two newest members, but continued nonetheless, “Then that leaves Vexen.”

“We can’t afford to see if he finds us,” Repliku said. “Half of our group is already injured.”

The group agreed and had to come up with new arrangements to escort everyone out safely. Thankfully the rest of their escape back home was uneventful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another part of the fantasy: Zexion still has his illusion powers! AND Xigbar does his little taunting teleportations around his victims!
> 
> When Xigbar says Saix revealed their plan, that was just a lie to get under Axel's skin! I didn't write Saix's part, but essentially Zexion notified Xemnas of the intruders and Xemnas ordered Xigbar to make sure they were actually dealt with when he stopped hearing updates. 
> 
> And of course, Xigbar just KNOWS! I wouldn't be surprised if Xigbar knew the entire plot of Kingdom Hearts


	8. Repliku

It’s been a few weeks since the rescue mission. There was already a significantly less amount of crime since Saïx exploited Xemnas and his friends. Though there was no doubt this wasn’t over yet. There were still those a part of the Agency that may have had a devotion to Xemnas, and underlings that followed the criminal leaders. 

Those who were healthy enough would go on patrol. It was never really much of a hassle, sometimes there would be a weak criminal or two. That is, until now. 

“There’s the failed experiment,” Vexen sneered. 

Repliku felt a pulse of heat course through his body as he turned towards the Agent, “I’m _not_ a failed experiment!”

“Of course you are! You were created so that you wouldn’t follow in Riku’s footsteps, and yet, here you are, trying to protect them.” Vexen waved a hand as if showing the flaws were obviously seen. 

A light drizzle began then changed to big, heavy drops rapidly hitting everything below them. It was almost as if it were an audience, slowly clapping at first before becoming loud cheers for Vexen. The universe _would_ go against Repliku. He wasn’t even supposed to exist in the first place, so why would it ever side with him? But he wouldn’t let that stop him from speaking his mind. 

“Don’t you get it!” Repliku took a step forward, “He’s not supporting a murderer! Roxas and Xion were alive this whole time, and we were all just blindly following Xemnas’s orders! At least I’ve finally opened my eyes.”

Vexen let out a menacing laugh. “Might as well make this easy for the both of us,” He said as he whipped out his revolver. 

Repliku dove behind a nearby building and made a run for it. He took out his pistol and shot behind him, but he was at a disadvantage. If he were to aim at his attacker, then he’d lose momentum and Vexen might actually put a bullet through him. 

There were several more shots fired, “You can’t run forever!” Another sinister chuckle echoed down the alley.

Repliku hid behind another building to catch his breath. Vexen was right, he can’t run forever. Even if he continued to run, Vexen would find him due to the rain making his footsteps louder with each splash on wet pavement. 

With another deep breath, Repliku turned around the building with his pistol aimed at where Vexen should've been, but the older man wasn’t there anymore. His turquoise eyes scanned the area. Just as he was about to turn back around, someone yanked his wrist that held his gun and Repliku felt a cold metal press to his head. He swallowed hard being met with the poisonous green eyes of the man that created him. 

Suddenly, Repliku wanted to shrink back -- turn back time! Maybe if he hadn’t stopped running, he’d have escaped. Maybe if he shot first, he wouldn’t have run in the first place. Maybe if he got rid of Vexen before helping his original and Sora and their friends, then none of this would’ve happened. All he knew was that if he made any movements, he would be dead in an instant. 

At Vexen’s devilish grin, lightning lit up bright in the sky behind him, dimming his features. Repliku couldn’t recall a time he’s ever truly been afraid. He’s had a few fake memories planted into his mind at his creation of him being scared, but never like this -- fearing for his life and wishing for a chance to turn back time just to avoid this very moment. 

“What?” Vexen asked snidely, “Not too long ago, you were acting like you believed the choices you made were right, weren’t you? Every choice you’ve made brought you to this point. Isn’t that right?”

He knew. Repliku knew. Every choice he made led him to this point. Vexen knew that he knew. And Vexen was relishing in the fear that was seeping into Repliku’s very veins. 

“No matter what, I can play god here. I can dismantle you and recreate you into anything I want. I can make you hurt your very friends, even Naminé, and have your consciousness unable to do anything but watch.”

Repliku closed his eyes. No. 

A shot rang out and Repliku’s turquoise eyes widened as his breath hitched. 

Vexen’s smile turned to a sneer as he collapsed to the ground. 

Several seconds of staring at the scientist’s dying body, Repliku realized he hadn’t been shot. He was fine -- uninjured. 

Not long later, Repliku could hear someone climbing down the building he was next to. When he looked up, he saw Naminé plop down before him. 

She gave him a small smile, “Glad I happened to be around.”

Repliku nodded, “Thanks.”

“We should get back, Akimitsu.”

At that name, Repliku froze with his mouth agape. 

Naminé covered her mouth as she let out a soft giggle, “Don’t be so shocked! That is the name you wanted to go by, isn’t it?”

“I… Yeah,” Repliku -- Akimitsu-- closed his mouth. He cautiously glanced back at Vexen’s corpse. 

Naminé’s hand clasped around his, “You don’t have to worry about him anymore. You’re free now.” She squeezed his hand in reassurance. 

Akimitsu turned to her again and steadily began to register that she’s right. “Yeah,” He squeezed her hand in return and allowed himself to smile back. 

Not long later, they found officers Olette and Pence and notified them of the event with Vexen. 

✧✦✧

When Akimitsu and Naminé arrived back at Sora's HQ, they saw a fight had broken out between their group and the remaining members of the Agency. Luxord was pinned face against the wall by Axel. Riku was protecting Sora from Lexaeus and Marluxia. He was on the defense with a bloodied face. Demyx and Larxene were cornered by Roxas and Xion. Xaldin and Saïx pulled out their guns and aimed at each other.

“Everyone, stop!” Naminé shouted. 

Everyone froze what they were doing. Some turned their attention to her, while others merely stopped their fighting. 

There was a glint in Naminé’s baby-blue eyes that demanded answers. Akimitsu stared at her with a new sense of adoration. Naminé had always been more reserved and quiet, but seeing this more challenging side was alluring. 

Suddenly, Luxord spoke up, “We’re in search of a new leader.”

Akimitsu crossed his arms, “What do you mean?” 

Luxord glanced at Axel, who then let him free. He brushed off his clothes then turned to give his full attention to Naminé. “You’ve exploited Xemnas and his crimes. While there were those a part of the Agency, who had full devotion to him, we were always hoping for a way to escape.” 

Slowly, the tension around the room was beginning to die down, though not everyone let down their guard. 

“Why didn’t you just quit?” Naminé asked. 

“And be targeted like Riku was?” Luxord tossed his head in the direction of the person in question. “Staying with the Agency was safer for us.” 

“Then why target our group specifically?” Riku whipped blood from his mouth with the back of his wrist as he shot Luxord with a glare. Sora laid a hand on his bicep then slowly got up to leave the room. 

“Xemnas held lots of secrets and had a plan for everything,” Luxord began to explain, “yet Sora was still able to exploit him. We figured he would be the best to lead Twilight Town to the utopia we’ve always dreamed of.” 

Naminé put her hands on her hips, “Then why did we catch you fighting?” 

“It was a simple misunde--” 

Axel interrupted, “Larxene got a little too haughty and one thing led to another.” 

“Precisely,” Luxord agreed, as Larxene let out a scoff.

“I’m not sure I’m convinced,” Naminé spoke while eying the remaining Agency members skeptically. “But it’s not my choice to make. Sora? What do you say?” 

Sora was approaching Riku again with a wet rag when he was addressed, “I want to give them a chance.” 

There were a few glares towards the Agency members, but no one spoke against his decision.

Luxord turned to him, “What will you have us do first?” 

“Help out with the Restoration Committee team,” Sora pressed the cloth onto a cut on Riku’s face, as the latter let out a soft hiss. “A lot of people have been affected by Xemnas and his associates, and are wary about the Agency. By helping the Restoration team, you’ll gain the trust of the citizens.” 

“When can we start?” Luxord asked. 

“I’ll have Leon and the others come by either later today or tomorrow.”


End file.
